Principle and power in opposition as Congressmen resign

The tension between holding power and standing on principle came into sharp relief last week as the national #MeToo wave of intolerance for sexual harassment swept three members of Congress out of office.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., all said they would resign in the face of complaints of sexual misconduct or harassment. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy was among the Democrats calling for Franken to step down. When Franken did, the Minnesota Democrat called out President Donald Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who also have been accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct.

That would bring misery and/or higher medical costs for thousands of families, And according to a number of Connecticut CPAs, the new federal budget probably would not put any money back in the pockets of many middle-class Connecticut families. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was unreserved in his assessment of the new tax legislation, which he said will harm the state’s economy: “This bill is nothing short of an abomination, a scam and ill-wrought attempt to finally get a legislative win for the Trump administration, and nothing more.”

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Paul has more than 40 years of reporting and editing experience at newspapers in New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut. He worked 22 years at the Hartford Courant in various editing roles including as deputy state editor, assistant editor of Northeast Magazine, and as an associate editor at Courant.com. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers in 1972; and, in 2010, completed a training program in culinary arts at Manchester Community College.

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The massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school cast another shadow of grief, disgust, frustration and anger over the nation last week. For Connecticut, it brought bitter remembrance of the equally horrifying killings at Sandy Hook elementary school more than five years ago.